Explore UCD

UCD Home >

FIN41920

Academic Year 2024/2025

Sustainable Finance (FIN41920)

Subject:
Finance
College:
Business
School:
Business
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
7.5
Module Coordinator:
Dr SIQI LIU
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

The aim of this module is to provide students with a deep foundational knowledge of the emerging theories and practice of sustainable finance and investment.

The world is changing. Environmental and social issues, from the climate crisis to changing demographics to social inequality, are rising up to the top of the global agenda. As these sustainability issues become increasingly financially relevant to real economy businesses, the financial sector needs to consider its response. At its simplest, Sustainable Finance refers to any form of financial service integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into the business or investment decisions for the lasting benefit of both clients and society at large. But what are the drivers, who are the key stakeholders and should sustainability really have anything to do with the financial sector?

We will look at what sustainable finance specifically means across the banking, investment and insurance sectors, using practical examples and case studies to bring this topic to life. We will gain an understanding of how financial institutions obtain ESG information and how they incorporate that information into their financial analysis and decision making. We will study how different policies, regulations and supervisory expectations related to sustainable finance are evolving. As well as covering the theory, the course will be practical and commercially-focussed. The course will be delivered through a combination of lectures, case studies, guest speakers, readings and class led discussion.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the module, students should be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of:
- The relevance of sustainability issues to business and therefore to the financial sector
- The evolving sustainable finance policy and regulatory landscape
- What sustainable finance means in practice across banking, investment and insurance, key stakeholders, financial instruments and tools within each sector, the response of each sector as a whole and best practice financial institutions
- Understand results from academic papers, reports and a wide variety of literature on sustainable finance.
- The ESG corporate reporting ecosystem, with a high-level overview of how financial stakeholders utilise this information and the challenges associated with that.
- Write papers and reports to a high standard and quality on the current and future issues relating to sustainable finance in theory and practice.

Indicative Module Content:

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Autonomous Student Learning

130
Lectures

30
Total

160

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The course will be delivered through a combination of lectures, case studies, guest speakers, readings and class led discussion.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Group essay assignment & short presentation c.1,500 (+/- 10%) words - collect emissions & financial data and do exercises in R/Stata, and document & analyze empirical results in a word/LaTeX file Week 10 Graded No
50
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Individual assignment c.1,500 (+/- 10%) words - topical essay titles to be provided by the Lecturer, documented in a word/LaTeX file. Week 14 Graded No
50
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback is given to students on their individual reports and group assignments. Students also peer review each other's contribution to the group work.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 11:00 - 12:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.